Moneo Atreides

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Moneo Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is featured in the 1981 novel God Emperor of Dune. The name Moneo is the Latin word meaning 'I warn'.

[edit] Fictional biography

Majordomo Moneo Atreides (13,610-13,728) is one of the finest but underused examples of the Atreides breeding plan. A combination of grace, physical power, and mental ability his ancestors include not only Ghanima Atreides and Farad'n Corrino/Harq al-Ada, but also Duncan Idaho. Moneo is unique among his contemporaries because he refused to use the spice melange in order to extend his own lifespan as others did.

Moneo had the misfortune of being born at a time when possessing the superhuman strength of the Atreides line was not enough. He becomes the closest and most trusted servant/caretaker of Leto Atreides II.

Moneo's daughter, Siona is a rebel and an upstart but it is revealed that Moneo too was a rebel at one point in his life and Leto II considers it a mark of great intelligence and honor for a future trustee of the Golden Path to question his rule.

Never one to hold his superior physical prowess over others the closest Moneo ever comes to intimidation is when he warns the new Duncan Idaho ghola that, even with Idaho's Ginaz Swordmaster training, the evolved Atreides could kill him in seconds.

Moneo carries himself with a quiet dignity and poise, serving without personal ambition. He acts as a first line perhaps as a way of saying, "If you can not best the pinnacle of human Atreides evolution, what hope do you have against Leto II?"